FanDuel MLB Lineup Advice: Friday (5/19)

It is time to recognize J.D. Martinez is too good to be priced this low

Hey, everyone. Jared from Fantasy Cruncher here. I’ll be writing the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday FanDuel MLB Lineup Advice articles every week for FantasyPros this year. Really excited to share my thoughts and recommended plays with you throughout the season!

We have 14 games on the evening slate today, and lineups lock at 7:05 pm EST.

Weather

It’s looking like we will have a fairly clear weather day, which opens the slate up for us to choose just about anyone we want! Thank you, Mother Nature.

Overall Thoughts

We have a variety of mound options to consider – all the way at the $12,000 mark but plenty to like under $9,000 as well. I’ve chosen to roll with Alex Wood whose value is too good to pass up as the skills behind the name are phenomenal, and he’s $3,100 cheaper than Chris Sale on a night that I want to roster some elite bats. I’m also loving the Nats bats today, as their values are solid and they face one of the weakest SPs on the slate, so you’ll see me go 4-deep there. However, you can easily pivot off a couple names to spread the wealth around if you’d like. I like this lineup quite a bit for cash game consideration.

Pitcher

For me, it’s a two-horse race for top spot on the mound, and then a fairly sizeable drop-off thereafter. Wood faces the Marlins today in what has him and the Dodgers as the heaviest favorites on the slate (better than -220 at the moment), with a tremendous implied opponent total. If you’ve missed it, Wood has a sparkling 1.78 SIERA and 22.6% hard rate over his last 5 starts to go along with an elite 13.5 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9. If that wasn’t enough, his 64.5% ground ball rate shows you just how elite he’s been – and despite a somewhat tricky match-up against the heart of the order with Marcell Ozuna and Giancarlo Stanton (in particular), I think it’s safe to say he’s as chalky as it gets if you pivot off Sale today.

Catcher

For the price and against Jered Weaver, who I want at least a bit of exposure to (ARI bats), I don’t think you can go wrong as long as he’s in the lineup. He went deep to help the Diamondbacks win the other night in walk-off fashion, and is exhibiting ISO numbers near .200 vs RHP over the last couple years, with a hard hit rate of 40%. Not too shabby for a $2,300 C.

First Base

The Nationals are one of my favorite stacks to deploy tonight, and they are all pretty reasonably priced when you stack up some of the ways you can go with Wood on the hill. Zimmerman has been on fire this year, and after receiving most of the day off yesterday, he should be able to enter tonight’s game in fairly rested form. He’s cooled off a bit lately, but is set to hit in the heart of a lineup that has absolutely destroyed RHP so far this season (.348 team wOBA for the split). I love Paul Goldschmidt here as well, and he would be my #1 pivot if you can find a way to pay up.

Second Base

Murphy has outstanding numbers vs RHP over the last couple years, checking in with a .382 wOBA, .225 ISO, 36% hard hit rate and mere 8% K rate for the split. He will continue to be one of the highest floor plays in MLB DFS thanks to the contact rate and power potential. For the price, it’s a no-brainer for me in this match-up vs Dickey.

Third Base

Another price point that I love on the slate, and in a hitter’s park like SunTrust, Rendon shapes up to be an excellent option at the three bag. His wRC+ over the last couple years vs RHP has been rock solid (104), and he makes very good hard contact for the split to go along with nice wOBA and ISO numbers that are above average as well. The numbers may not jump off the page overall, but if you like the Nats tonight as much as I do, having exposure to the heart of the order should yield positive results.

Shortstop

This has been Turner’s better split to date, sitting at a .376 wOBA, .238 ISO and 134 wRC+ against RHP dating back to the start of last season (including 17 long balls). Dickey is also susceptible to being run on, so it won’t shock me to see him motoring around the basepaths assuming he gets on early in the game. Corey Seager is an admirable pivot if you want a bit of savings or to spread the wealth around beyond 4-deep on the Nats.

Outfield

Nick Martinez is very average. Very, very average. It just so happens to be that J.D. has tremendous numbers against both LHP and RHP – so don’t be shy of the RvR split. A .383 wOBA, .251 ISO, 41% hard hit rate and 143 wRC+ against righties over the last couple seasons makes him a no-brainer to play tonight while the price isn’t outrageous. It also helps that he’s tearing the cover off the ball right now, too.

Justin Nicolino is one of the more exploitable arms on the slate as well, and Guti should be back in the heart of the order against a LHP. He’s a powerful sub-$3,000 bat (.248 ISO vs LHP over the last couple years) that can really help you tonight, and with Nicolino’s basically non-existent strikeout skill, Gutierrez’s 35% K rate for the split isn’t as scary. Go ahead and get him active in a great spot (so long as he’s hitting in the heart of the order, of course).

I have been pretty impressed with what I’ve seen from Fuentes so far this young season, and I am a big fan of the price point as well. There is a good chance he’s back in the leadoff spot tonight against Weaver, and he can use his contact skills + wheels to do some damage against the Friars. Make sure he’s playing before you lock him in, though. If not, there are other cheap OFs you can pivot to as well.